COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — No. 3 Texas A&M is on the verge of reaching heights the Aggies often tease but usually squander. They are undefeated. They could reach the Southeastern Conference title game and the College Football Playoff for the first time.
Quarterback Marcel Reed is a Heisman Trophy contender and the school has rewarded coach Mike Elko with a blockbuster contract extension. Aggies faithful are hopeful that their program has finally taken a great leap forward.
“It feels amazing,” Reed said. “It feels like I’m giving back to a lot of these fans for what they haven’t had.”
Perhaps the most impressive thing about this rise of the Aggies is that they’ve done it so soon after the firing of Jimbo Fisher when he came up woefully short in his promise to deliver their first national championship since 1939.
Elko, who took over at Texas A&M (11-0, 7-0 SEC, No. 3 CFP) after going 16-9 in two years at Duke in what was his first head coaching job, was hired two years ago this Thursday. On the day he was introduced in an event that was more pep rally than news conference, he told hundreds of hyped-up fans that the years and years of talking about winning a national title were over.
“We are not going to talk about it anymore,” he said then. “We are gonna be about it.”
So how did he get the Aggies to “be about it” in such a short time?
“A lot of coaches come in and they say a lot of things. That doesn’t mean that people follow,” he said. “So, I’ve given a lot of the credit to the players in the locker room because they’re the ones that believed in this. They believed in this vision. They believed in what we were preaching. They believed in the culture. Before they ever had results, they just did the things we asked them to do to build this thing. And now to be where we are, I think it’s a reward for everything that they put into this thing long ago.”
Texas A&M has come close to reaching the next level many times in the past only to fall short, including last season when it opened the season 7-1 only to drop three of the next four games to fall out of playoff contention.
It’s happened so often that the team’s fans have half-jokingly coined the term “Battered Aggies Syndrome.” To long-suffering Aggie fans, it means that they’ve been let down so many times that they can’t even enjoy Texas A&M’s success anymore.
It’s a notion that Elko and his team have no time for. They’re focused only on now, a thought evidenced by the letters G-R-I-N-D that take up an entire wall in a team meeting room on campus. It’s an acronym that stands for Grit, Relentless effort, Integrity, Now and Dependability.
“Now — he talks about that all the time,” Reed said of Elko. “It’s one of the bigger words we talked about in the offseason and going in this season. So, we focus on the now. I wasn’t here years back when A&M wasn’t necessarily winning all the time. But I’m here now and I’m doing my best to make these fans happy and keep wins on the board.”
And the quarterback has a message for those still suffering from “Battered Aggies Syndrome.”
“If you want to think about the past and go back to ‘Battered Aggies Syndrome,’ that’s not my fault. That’s yours,” he said. “You can have your own opinions, but … if you focus on the past, you’re not going to get anywhere in life. You got to have hope. You got to have faith. You believe in God, you have to have hope and faith. So, believe in the Aggies for once.”
The Aggies have won 10 games for the first time since Johnny Manziel helped them to an 11-2 mark in his Heisman-winning season in 2012. It’s the first time they’ve opened a season 11-0 since coach R.C. Slocum, powered by his famed Wrecking Crew defense, went 12-0 in 1992. That season they beat archrival Texas 34-13 in Austin on Thanksgiving to cap their perfect regular season.
This year they’ll have to vanquish the 16th-ranked Longhorns (No. 17 CFP) in Austin on Friday to remain perfect after falling to them at home last season in their first meeting since 2011. A win will punch their ticket to the SEC title game on Dec. 6 in Atlanta. They could still get in if they lose but would need losses by both Alabama and Mississippi.
“I think the beauty of the next one for us is it kind of hammers itself home,” Elko said. “I think that’s the nice thing about having that rivalry at the end of the season. I’m not sure that there’s anything for Texas A&M football to look (at) other than that game Friday night. We know what that game means. We know what it’s all about. We know we didn’t get it done last year. We know how important it is for us to go out there and play our best football Friday night.”
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Texas A&M wide receiver Ashton Bethel-Roman (3) catches a pass for a thouchdown over over Samford cornerback Nahil Perkins (3) during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, in College Station, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Craft)
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Marcus Mariota emerged from the Washington Commanders' first victory celebration since Oct. 5 with a sense of relief. Beating the New York Giants 29-21 on Sunday ended their season-derailing skid at eight games.
“There’s nothing like a winning locker room,” Mariota said. “It’s hard to go two months without winning a football game.”
Now their opponent is stuck with that feeling. The Giants (2-12), who lost their eighth in a row, have not won since Oct. 9.
The only NFL game this week with no playoff implications had a far bigger bearing on draft positioning. The Giants in defeat moved a step closer to the top pick, a last-place finish in the NFC East and potentially front-office changes, with a coaching search already coming.
"I’ve never gone this long without a win in my career," said Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, who was 20 of 36 for 246 yards with touchdown passes to Tyrone Tracy and Wan'Dale Robinson and a costly interception. “I know that this isn’t going to be the case for the future, and things are going to eventually turn around. I definitely have that in my mind. Obviously, as a team we want to get that switched immediately.”
Players in Washington thought last year was evidence of turning that franchise around, with an improbable run to the conference championship game in quarterback Jayden Daniels' AP Offensive Rookie of the Year season setting expectations high. Instead, Daniels has missed significant time, including sitting out Sunday after aggravating an elbow injury, and the Commanders (4-10) also are playing out the string.
They responded from getting shut out 31-0 at Minnesota last Sunday by Jacory Croskey-Merritt running for a TD and fellow rookie Jaylin Lane returning a punt 63 yards to the end zone.
“The guys, it comes down to effort on that,” said Lane, who got the game ball from coach Dan Quinn and carried it around afterward. “It’s the longest play in football, punt returns, so just shoutout to the guys.”
Mariota connected with top receiver Terry McLaurin on a 51-yard catch-and-run touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and that went a long way toward putting smiles on many faces in the visiting locker room.
“It feels amazing to win a football game,” McLaurin said. “It’s been a long season, but you come out here and you get a win and you really appreciate that feeling.”
Mariota completed only 10 passes on 19 attempts for 211 yards, with a fumble, and Croskey-Merritt had 96 on the ground.
That, along with a defensive effort that included Von Miller sacking Dart to reach 136 1/2 in his career and pass Jared Allen for 12th on the all-time list, turned out to be enough.
“It’s never easy at this point in time with what’s going on in our season, but those guys continue to fight, continue to battle,” Mariota said. “Games like this are never easy. The weather was tough, windy, cold, snowy: So many reasons, so many things for guys to not show up and play, and our guys found a way.”
Dart was escorted off the field by trainers to the sideline and went into the blue medical tent for a concussion evaluation after taking a big hit on a designed run in the fourth. He missed only two plays while getting cleared but did not understand why he was pulled.
“I was definitely surprised,” Dart said. “I didn’t feel like it was that big of a hit at all.”
This was Dart’s second game back after missing the previous two from getting concussed Nov. 9 at Chicago.
Commanders: WR Noah Brown was initially listed as questionable to return because of a back injury, which was changed to ribs when he was ruled out at halftime. ... LT Laremy Tunsil returned after leaving with a back injury, then exited again with an oblique ailment. ... DT Eddie Goldman was evaluated for a concussion.
Giants: Edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux missed a fourth consecutive game because of a shoulder injury.
Commanders: Host the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday.
Giants: Host the Minnesota Vikings next Sunday.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. (29) catches a pass for a touchdown against Washington Commanders middle linebacker Bobby Wagner (54) during the third quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Washington Commanders wide receiver Jaylin Lane (83) celebrates with wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. (1) after returning a punt for a touchdown against the New York Giants during the second quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Washington Commanders running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt (22) is tackled by New York Giants cornerback Andru Phillips (22) as he crosses the goal line for a touchdown during the second quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. (29) catches a pass for a touchdown against Washington Commanders middle linebacker Bobby Wagner (54) during the third quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin (17) celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown against the New York Giants during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Washington Commanders wide receiver Jaylin Lane (83) carries the ball for a touchdown against the New York Giants during the second quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
